CN114909635A

CN114909635A - Optical assembly, car light and vehicle

Info

Publication number: CN114909635A
Application number: CN202110187875.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 张飘; 胡强; 高亚贵; 顾安娜
Original assignee: Valeo Lighting Hubei Technical Center Co Ltd
Current assignee: Valeo Lighting Hubei Technical Center Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-02-09
Filing date: 2021-02-09
Publication date: 2022-08-16
Also published as: WO2022171636A1

Abstract

The invention relates to an optical component, a vehicle lamp and a vehicle, the optical component (1) comprising: a first light-guiding element (3) having a first direction of extension (E1); a second light guiding element (4) having a first light exit region (41) with a second direction of extension (E2); a light source (L) for directing light emitted by the light source (L) through the first light guide element into a light exit area (41) of the second light guide element, the first light guide element (3) having a first reflection surface (33) at a light exit end (32) facing away from the light source (L) for reflecting the light towards a second light incoupling surface (44) of the second light guide element (4), the first extension direction enclosing an acute angle with the second extension direction, the first light guide element (3) having a light deflection surface (35) arranged downstream of the first reflection surface (33) in the propagation direction of the light, starting from the first reflection surface and extending obliquely in the direction of the second light incoupling surface (44) against the propagation direction of the light in the first light guide element.

Description

Optical assembly, car light and vehicle

Technical Field

The invention relates to an optical assembly, a vehicle lamp and a vehicle.

Background

An optical device for a motor vehicle, for example a lighting or indicator device, is known from US2011007518a 1. The optical device includes: at least two light sources for different predetermined light functions; a main light guide having an exit end and being adapted to guide light generated by the light source towards the exit end such that the exit end defines a common exit surface for both light functions.

Disclosure of Invention

An object of the present invention is to provide an optical module for a vehicle in which light emitted from a light source can be guided to a light exit surface to achieve a desired lighting effect.

According to the invention, an optical assembly for a vehicle is proposed comprising: a first light guiding element having a first direction of extension; a second light guide element having a first light exit region having a second extending direction; a light source, the light emitted by which is coupled into the first light guiding element and is guided conductively by the first light guiding element into the light exit area of the second light guiding element, the first light guiding element having a first reflection surface at a light exit end facing away from the light source for reflecting the light towards a second light coupling-in surface of the first light exit area of the second light guiding element, wherein an angle enclosed by the first extension direction and the second extension direction is an acute angle, the first light guiding element having a light deflection surface arranged downstream of the first reflection surface in the propagation direction of the light, wherein the light deflection surface extends starting from the first reflection surface obliquely in the direction of the second light coupling-in surface against the propagation direction of the light in the first light guiding element.

By means of the proposed solution, the travel path of the light source can be changed, the light is guided into the light guiding element forming the light exit area in a desired manner, for example, such that the light entering the relevant light exit area via the light incoupling surface satisfies the total reflection condition at the interface, increasing the illumination area. Meanwhile, the light guide elements themselves constituting the optical assembly are simple in structure and convenient to manufacture.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the second light guiding element has a second light exit region, the light exit end of the first light guiding element being between the first light exit region and the second light exit region, wherein the first light guiding element has a second reflective surface assigned to the second light exit region at the light exit end. Therefore, different light emitting regions can be simultaneously lit by the same light source, so that, for example, the number of light sources can be reduced. This is advantageous in particular when the relevant light exit regions need to be lit simultaneously.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the light exit end is grooved to form a first reflection surface and a second reflection surface that reflect light toward the first light exit region and the second light exit region, respectively. Thus, the first and second reflective surfaces may have different orientations to direct light toward the associated light exit region.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the first light exit region and the second light exit region have the same extension direction, wherein a bridge surface is arranged between the first reflective surface and the second reflective surface. The spatial offset between the first light exit region and the second light exit region can be compensated by the bridge surface to guide light into the respective light exit regions.

According to the embodiment of the invention, the light decoupling structure is arranged in the first light emitting area and the second light emitting area, so that light can be emitted from the light emitting areas. A "light-decoupling structure" is understood here to be a structure which disrupts the total reflection conditions of the light in the light exit region, for example in the form of an array of elevations and/or depressions; of course, other forms of light-decoupling structures are possible.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the first light guiding member and the second light guiding member are plate-shaped. In particular, when the second light guide member is plate-shaped, a planar lighting effect can be achieved. The circumferential contour of the light exit region of the plate-like light guide element can be defined as desired.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the first light guiding element is made of polycarbonate, wherein α <79 °; or the first light guiding element is made of polymethyl methacrylate, wherein α <84 °. In the above case, the light of the light source may be guided into the second light guiding member by means of a light deflecting surface provided in the first light guiding member.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the second light guiding element is in one piece. To this end, the second light-guiding member is in one piece and may be injection-molded from plastic. The second light guiding element may be composed of the same material as the first light guiding element; of course, they may be formed of different materials.

According to an embodiment of the invention, a light entrance end of the first light guiding element facing the light source is provided with a light collimating structure. The light of the light source is collimated by the light collimating structure into a parallel beam, or at least approximately into a parallel beam, to facilitate further processing of the subsequent light.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the optical assembly has a light-guiding rod, at one end of which the light source is arranged, and light emitted by the light source is conductively coupled into the first light-guiding member via the light-guiding rod. The light guide rod may have a curved course at least in sections, so that the course of adjacent borders of adjacent light exit regions can be matched by the course of the light guide rod to achieve a predetermined lighting effect.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the light-deflecting face is a structured surface. Illustratively, such structured light deflecting surfaces are corrugated surfaces (such as triangular corrugated surfaces, arcuate corrugated surfaces, etc.), micro-structure array surfaces (such as raised and/or recessed array structures, etc.), or dermatoglyphic surfaces.

According to the embodiment of the present invention, the first light exit region and the second light exit region are separated from each other by the light blocking portion to achieve a desired lighting effect.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a vehicle lamp is provided, which has the above optical assembly.

According to a further aspect of the invention, a vehicle is proposed, which has an optical assembly or a lamp as described above.

Drawings

The invention is further elucidated below with the aid of the drawing, in which,

figure 1 schematically shows a front view of an optical assembly according to the invention;

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates a rear exploded view of an optical assembly according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of the optical assembly along line A-A of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 shows a partial enlarged view of region D of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of a first light guiding element of the optical assembly of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 illustrates one embodiment of a light-entering end of the first lightguide element of FIG. 5; and

fig. 7 shows a cross-sectional view of an optical assembly according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present invention are exemplarily described below. As those skilled in the art will appreciate, the illustrated embodiments may be modified in various different ways, without departing from the inventive concept. Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not as restrictive. In the following, the same reference numbers generally indicate functionally identical or similar elements.

Fig. 1 shows an optical assembly 1 of a vehicle according to the invention. It can be seen that the optical component 1 has two light exit areas, namely a first light exit area 41 and a second light exit area 42. In the example shown, the two

light exit areas

41, 42 are spaced apart from each other and have different shapes. The first light exit area 41 and the second light exit area 42 are formed by a light guiding element 4, which light guiding element 4 is held in a holder 2. The support may be, for example, a visor for a vehicle lamp of a vehicle, such as an escutcheon. Thus, the spaced-apart regions of the light exit area can be filled by the sections 21 of the holder 2.

As can be seen from fig. 2, a further light-guiding element 3 is assigned to the light-guiding element 4 of the optical component 1. In the following, for the sake of convenience of expression, the first light-guiding element is denoted by reference numeral 3 and the second light-guiding element by reference numeral 4, wherein the ordinal numbers "first", "second", etc., in combination with the description of a technical feature, are used merely to distinguish functionally identical or substantially identical elements, without limitation. The optical component 1 also has a light source L, whose emitted light is coupled into the second light-guiding element 4 via the first light-guiding element 3 in a guided manner, thereby illuminating a corresponding light exit region of the second light-guiding element 4. In the example shown, the first light exit area 41 and the second light exit area 41 are arranged one above the other, the light exit end 32 of the first light guiding element 3 is at an intermediate area 43 between the light exit areas, and

light reflecting surfaces

33, 34 assigned to the respective light exit areas are provided at the light exit end 32, as will be explained further below.

The holder 2 of the optical component 1 may be provided with a snap 22 for fixation of the optical component 1, for example on a housing of a lamp of a vehicle.

The second light-guiding member 4 is plate-shaped, preferably flat. A light decoupling structure 46 may be provided at the side of the light exit area of the second light guiding member 4 facing the first light guiding member 3 to break the total reflection conditions in the second light guiding member 4 for the light coupled into the second light guiding member 4. For example, the light-decoupling structures 46 of the upper first light-exiting area 41 are slanted bar array structures, and the light-decoupling structures 46 of the lower second light-exiting area 44 are a combination of horizontal and vertical bar array structures, so as to finally exhibit a desired lighting effect when the light source is powered on. The smallest constituent units of the light decoupling structure 46 may be recesses (see fig. 4) and/or protrusions, which may be arranged in a predetermined configuration, such as a line or other pattern.

The first light guiding member 3 may be in the form of an elongated plate having a

light reflecting surface

33, 34 at a light exit end 32 with a length corresponding to the length of the

light incoupling surface

44, 45, respectively, of the second light guiding member 4.

The optical component 1 according to the invention is further explained below with the aid of fig. 3 and 4. In the cross-sectional view shown, the first light-guiding element 3 has a first direction of extension E1, and the first light exit area 41 of the second light-guiding element 4 has a second direction of extension E2. It can be seen that the first direction of extension E1 encloses an angle a with the second direction of extension E2, which is an acute angle. For example, the first light guiding element 3 may be composed of polycarbonate, wherein α <79 °; or the first light guiding element 3 may be made of polymethyl methacrylate, where α <84 °. The first light-guiding member 3 is provided with a light-deflecting surface 35 downstream of its first reflecting surface 33 assigned to the first light-exit area 41 in the propagation direction of light, which light-deflecting surface 35 extends starting from the first reflecting surface 33 obliquely in the direction of the second light-incoupling surface 44 against the propagation direction of light in the first light-guiding member 3, so that the light coupled into the first light-exit area 41 satisfies the total reflection condition at the inner surface 41I and the outer surface 41A of the first light-exit area 41.

In the example of fig. 4, the light deflection surface 35 is vertically between the first reflection surface 33 and the upper side surface 37 of the first light guiding element 3, the light deflection surface 35 can be regarded as a chamfer of the tip of the first light guiding element 3, and thus the upper side surface 37 has a different extension direction than the light deflection surface 35. Alternatively, in an example not shown, the light deflection surface 35 may protrude from the upper side 37 of the first light guiding element 3 and likewise extend starting from the first reflection surface 33 obliquely in the direction of the second light incoupling surface 44 against the propagation direction of the light in the first light guiding element 3.

The second light exit area 42 of the second light guiding element 4 is arranged at the lower side of the first light exit area 41. Thus, the light exit end 32 of the first light guiding element 3 may be arranged between the first light exit area 41 and the second light exit area 42, wherein the first light guiding element 3 further has a second reflection surface 34 assigned to the second light exit area 42 at the light exit end 32 for reflecting light towards a third light in-coupling surface 45 of the second light exit area 42. For this purpose, the light exit end 32 is grooved to form a first reflection surface 33 and a second reflection surface 34 that reflect light toward the first light exit area 41 and the second light exit area 42, respectively. For example, the area sizes of the first reflecting surface 33 and the second reflecting surface 34 may be allocated to match the area sizes of the first light emitting area 41 and the second light emitting area 42, so as to achieve uniform light emission intensity of each light emitting area.

In the example shown, the second light exit area 42 has the same extension as the first light exit area 41. Therefore, the angle enclosed by the extending directions of the first light guiding element 3 and the second light emission region 42 is an obtuse angle. Between the first reflecting surface 33 and the second reflecting surface 34, a bridge surface 36 is arranged, the extension direction of which may correspond to the light propagation direction. In this case, the front section of the underside 38 of the first light-guiding element, which section is in the direction of propagation of the light in the interior, forms the region of the light exiting the first light-guiding element 3, which does not need to be treated like the light deflection surface 35, i.e. the extension of the front section corresponds to the extension of the underside 38. The optical path of the optical component 1 shown is schematically illustrated by L1 and L2.

In an embodiment not shown, the second light exit area 42 may be arranged, like the first light exit area 41, to enclose an acute angle with the first light guiding element 3. For this purpose, another light deflecting surface like the light deflecting surface 35 may be provided.

The upper 37 and lower 38 sides of the first light guiding member 3 may, for example, be treated for total reflection, e.g. provided with a light reflecting layer or plate, to prevent light from escaping from the upper 37 and lower 38 sides.

Preferably, the second light-guiding member 4 is in one piece. This is advantageous for assembly. The first light exit area 41 and the second light exit area 42 can thus be connected together or by other sections and at their junction area an intermediate area 43 for the first light guiding element 4 is formed, which is in the form of a recess whose upper and lower inner walls form the light incoupling surfaces of the respective light exit areas. The bottom of the recess is provided with a light barrier 21, if necessary. Therefore, when the light source L is energized, different lighting regions can be displayed. Each light exit region may have a different shape.

The inclined light deflecting surface 35 may be a structured surface to improve light extraction uniformity. Illustratively, the light deflecting surface 35 may be a corrugated surface (such as a triangular corrugated surface, an arc corrugated surface, etc.), a microstructure array surface (such as an array of protrusions and/or depressions, etc.), a dermatoglyph surface, or the like.

The light entrance end 31 of the first light guiding element 3 facing the light source L may be provided with a light collimating structure 39. The light collimating structure 39 may be constituted by a plurality of cells 39a, which are arranged linearly, each cell 39a being assigned a light source L. The cell 39a has three light incident surfaces 311, 312, 313 enclosing a recess and

light reflecting surfaces

314, 315 adjacent to the recess, which cooperatively collimate received light.

Alternatively, the holder 2 and the second light-guiding element 4 can likewise be embodied in one piece. For this purpose, the holder 2 can be made of a light-impermeable material and the second light-guiding element 4 of a light-permeable material. In this case, a manufacturing process of two-color injection molding may be employed.

The light source L may be a semiconductor light source, such as a light emitting diode.

Fig. 7 shows a further embodiment of the optical component 1. In this embodiment, the optical component 1 has a light-guiding rod 5, the light source L being arranged at one end of the light-guiding rod 5, light emitted by the light source L being coupled into the first light-guiding element 3 via the light-guiding rod 5 by conduction via the first light incoupling surface 30. The other structures of the optical assembly 1 can be implemented similarly to the optical assembly 1 described above and will not be described here.

The present invention is not limited to the above configuration, and various other modifications may be adopted. While the invention has been described with respect to a limited number of embodiments, those skilled in the art, having benefit of this disclosure, will appreciate that other embodiments can be devised which do not depart from the scope of the invention as disclosed herein. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be limited only by the attached claims.

Claims

1. An optical assembly (1) for a vehicle, the optical assembly (1) comprising:

a first light-guiding element (3) having a first direction of extension (E1);

a second light guide element (4) having a first light exit area (41), the first light exit area (41) having a second direction of extension (E2);

a light source (L) which emits light which is coupled into the first light-guiding element (3) and is guided conductively via the first light-guiding element (3) into a first light-exit area (41) of the second light-guiding element (4),

wherein the first light guiding element (3) has a first reflection surface (33) at a light exit end (32) facing away from the light source (L) for reflecting light towards a second light in-coupling surface (44) of the first light exit area (41),

characterized in that the first direction of extension (E1) encloses an angle (a) with the second direction of extension (E2) which is acute, wherein the first light-guiding element (3) has a light-deflecting surface (35) arranged downstream of the first reflecting surface (33) in the direction of propagation of the light, which light-deflecting surface (35) extends starting from the first reflecting surface (33) obliquely in the direction of the second light in-coupling surface (44) against the direction of propagation of the light in the first light-guiding element (3).

2. Optical assembly (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the second light guiding element (4) has a second light exit area (42), the light exit end (32) of the first light guiding element (3) being arranged between the first light exit area (41) and the second light exit area (42), wherein the first light guiding element (3) has a second reflective surface (34) at the light exit end (32) assigned to the second light exit area (42).

3. Optical assembly (1) according to claim 2, characterized in that the light exit end (32) is grooved to form a first reflection surface (33) and a second reflection surface (34) reflecting light towards the first light exit area (41) and the second light exit area (42), respectively.

4. Optical component (1) according to claim 3, characterized in that the first light exit area (41) and the second light exit area (42) have the same direction of extension, wherein a bridge surface (34) is arranged between the first (33) and the second (34) reflective surface.

5. Optical component (1) according to claim 3, characterized in that light decoupling structures (46) are provided in the first light exit region (41) and the second light exit region (42) such that light can exit from the light exit regions.

6. Optical assembly (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that said first light-guiding element (3) and said second light-guiding element (4) are plate-shaped.

7. Optical component (1) according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the first light guiding element (3) consists of polycarbonate, wherein a <79 °; or the first light-guiding element (3) is made of polymethyl methacrylate, wherein α <84 °.

8. Optical assembly (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that said second light-guiding element (4) is in a single piece.

9. Optical assembly (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that a light-incident end (31) of the first light guiding element (3) facing the light source (L) is provided with a light collimating structure (38).

10. The optical component (1) according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterised in that the optical component (1) has a light-guiding rod (5), the light source (L) being arranged at one end of the light-guiding rod (5), the light emitted by the light source (L) being conductively coupled into the first light-guiding element (3) via the light-guiding rod (5).

11. The optical component (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the light-deflecting face (35) is a structured surface.

12. Optical component (1) according to claim 11, characterized in that the light-deflecting face (35) is a corrugated surface, a micro-structured array face or a dermatoglyph face.

13. Optical assembly (1) according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the first light exit area (41) and the second light exit area (42) are separated from each other by a light barrier (21).

14. A vehicle lamp, characterized in that it has an optical assembly (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 13.

15. A vehicle, characterized in that it has an optical assembly (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 13 or a lamp according to claim 14.